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SSA Governors Consider Rate Hikes on Freight, Parking

An $85 million operating budget and a rate increase for freight trucks on the Vineyard run will be up for discussion when Steamship Authority governors hold their monthly meeting in Vineyard Haven this morning.

The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.

The rate hike for freight is needed to cover an anticipated $1 million increase in the cost of service in the coming year.

Boat line governors saw a draft budget at their meeting in September on Nantucket.

If it is approved, a 5.2 per cent rate hike for trucks longer than 20 feet will go into effect beginning in January. The SSA operates on a calendar year. The operating budget is voted on annually in October.

Under the new budget, daily parking rates and annual parking permits in Woods Hole and Falmouth are also slated for an increase next year. No increase is being proposed for passenger, car or excursion fares.

The freight increases would bring in about $400,000 in additional revenue, while the parking rate hikes would bring in about $600,000, boat line treasurer Bob Davis said last month.

The budget calls for a projected net operating income of just over $3 million for 2014. The state-chartered boat line is mandated to provide dependable year-round ferry service to the two Islands and operates without state and federal subsidy.

The meeting this morning will also hear a business summary from August, a report on Palmer avenue parking lot improvements and discussion of a feasibility study for the Woods Hole terminal reconstruction project.